South Africa: Surpassing Standards in Digital Banking

The strategic partnership between Envestnet | Yodlee and Strands is covering new ground, as they embark on a joint expansion of account aggregation services for financial institutions in South Africa. This is a region which, similarly to its North African neighbours, is gathering speed when it comes to mobile and digital banking solutions.

Africa’s unique circumstances, as one of the world’s most ‘unbanked’ populations, has made them unwavering in their approach to digital Personal Financial Management (PFM) banking initiatives, outdoing the global competition in the race to deliver the best user experience to mobile banking customers. Mobile money management is the means by which to bridge the banking gap for the underserved masses.

According to a business report by iol.co.za, South Africa’s major banks have the highest average Lafferty Group’s Global Bank Quality Benchmark of any country. This can be attributed to the “exceptional calibre of South African management, which allows banks to surpass the global standard.” Founder and Chairman Michael Lafferty believes that “the world’s best banks are not the giant universal banks or those banks that try to mimic them, but those that are focused taking a longer-term view that is in the best interests of their customers.” South Africa’s Capitec Bank is the only bank in the world to have achieved five-star status in the study, beating other global banks such as HSBC and JPMorgan Chase, and several local contenders.

The region’s well-regulated and developed banking system has generated significant interest from foreign banks and is now ranked 8th in Financial Sector Development, out of 140 countries included in the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report.

Both Envestnet | Yodlee, a leading data aggregation and data analytics platform powering dynamic, cloud-based innovation for digital financial services and Strands, a leading Fintech partner for banks, have significant experience in servicing African banking, having worked with some of the biggest financial institutions in the region. Together they will be well-placed to tap into the huge potential this market still has for growth.

“For over 17 years, we have leveraged data intelligence to drive global financial innovation, and we’re excited to expand our partnership with Strands from Europe and Australia to the growing South Africa market,” said Jason O’Shaughnessy, Senior Vice President for EMEA and Australia at Envestnet | Yodlee. “With the integration of Envestnet | Yodlee Aggregation API, we’re enabling Strands financial customers to securely access a consumer’s holistic financial picture across the most comprehensive retail banking, credit, and wealth transaction data to deliver personalized digital banking experiences.”

General Manager of Strands, Pau Velando, agrees by saying that "growth in South Africa is an important milestone in Strands' international expansion. It made absolute sense to us to embark on this venture with Envestnet | Yodlee, as our combined technologies allow us to bring industry-leading financial account aggregation services to banks in South Africa, helping them to deliver actionable tools that empower customers to reach their financial goals."

About Strands

Strands is the FinTech partner for banks, serving more than 600 bank implementations with over 100 million customers in 36 countries. Clients include Barclays, BBVA, Bank of Montreal, Commercial Bank of Africa, Deutsche Bank, and Huntington, among others. Strands categorizes and enriches some ninety-four million banking transactions daily.

Strands is a FinTech pioneer with the award-winning solution for Personal Financial Management (PFM) launched in 2008 in the United States and Europe. Strands Finance Suite today includes a portfolio of products that share a common foundation based on Big Data Processing, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Open API and best-in-class Customer Experience.

The company’s mission is to enable banks and merchants to anticipate customer needs and proactively suggest next-best-actions to increase long-term customer value. Strands’ solutions empower people to better manage their finances and make smarter, more-informed consumer decisions.

The company was founded in 2004 in Oregon (US) and Barcelona (Spain), initially developing personalization and recommendation solutions for the music industry. Apple acquired these early solutions together with a portfolio of 32 patents, allowing the company to focus its innovation efforts on the research and development of financial technologies.

More than 57,000 advisors and 2,900 companies including: 16 of the 20 largest U.S. banks, 39 of the 50 largest wealth management and brokerage firms, over 500 of the largest Registered Investment Advisers, and hundreds of Internet services companies, leverage Envestnet technology and services. Envestnet solutions enhance knowledge of the client, accelerate client on-boarding, improve client digital experiences, and help drive better outcomes for enterprises, advisors, and their clients.